INFOGRAPHIC: CLICK HERE TO RELIVE 'MAGIC MAN' JOAO MOREIRA'S RECORD 145 WINNERS IN 2014-15
Joao Moreira's season was such a tour de force that the raw, mind-boggling numbers tell only part of the story.
Consider this: his mark of 145 wins was 31 more than Douglas Whyte's previous record, he reached 100 by the end of April - more than a month quicker than anyone in history - and he was also the fastest to 200 wins in Hong Kong.
Along the way his mounts secured more than HK$170 million in prize money, also a record, helped by seven Group One wins at home. In March, the Magic Man became the third jockey in the professional era to ride six winners in one day, but there were also three five-timers, seven four-timers, 14 trebles and 16 doubles as the Brazilian ran roughshod over the opposition and record books alike, his unrivalled popularity with trainers illustrated by riding winners for 21 of the 24 stables.
The scariest part might be that Moreira is a relatively youthful 31, this was just his second season based at Sha Tin and he still feels he has room for improvement.
Dethroned champion Zac Purton missed 21 of the 83 meetings as he suffered a recurrence of kidney stones, a painful back injury and picked up Moreira's slack with stewards as careless riding charges stopped his momentum. Still, somehow, Purton rode 95 winners and picked up his first BMW Hong Kong Derby on Luger.
Thirteen-time champion Whyte was relegated to third with 74 wins, his lowest return since 1999-2000. Still, it was a case of the rich getting richer as Whyte, Moreira and Purton won more than 40 per cent of the races and left the rest to fight over the scraps.
Brett Prebble and the constantly improving Neil Callan fought it out for fourth and fifth, while French veteran Gerald Mosse put aside uncertainty over his future with a strong finish to the term, closing with two four-timers in the last three meetings.
Hong Kong's jockeys developed a taste for overseas Group Ones, especially in Australia, as Moreira, Purton, Whyte and Prebble all captured big-race wins on hit-and-run missions.
Matthew Chadwick had a sub-par season due to a finger injury, but in his place fellow local lads Vincent Ho Chak-yiu (33 wins), Keith Yeung Ming-lun (28) and Derek Leung Ka-chun (26) did well as Moreira's ability to ride light put the squeeze on them.
The lack of a standout claimer was glaring, so much so that the trophy for champion apprentice disappeared from the Champion Awards: 10-pounder Jack Wong Ho-nam arrived in February, and Dicky Lui Cheuk-yin was eventually stripped of his licence after trouble with stewards. He will be replaced by Hong Kong's first full-time female rider in more than 15 years when Kei Chiong Ka-kei returns from a four-year stint in New Zealand.
Lui's departure was part of an attempted end-of-season clean-out by the licensing committee as Andreas Suborics was shown the door and Jacky Tong Chi-kit asked to show cause, with the latter able to keep his licence for at least one more season.
Frenchman Olivier Doleuze, a fixture for many seasons, also withdrew his licence application as he attempts to overcome a shoulder injury, with hopes he can return late next season.
The season was also tarnished by four running and handling cases, with Mosse (15 meetings), Lui (eight), Howard Cheng Yue-tin (18) and Alex Lai Hoi-wing (14) all hit with lengthy bans.
